IAF's first ever mid-air collision raises many questions

A few minutes before noon on August 30, two Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters took off in quick succession from the Jamnagar Air Force base in Gujarat. Ten minutes later, all nine Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board both choppers were dead. In a disturbing climax, the second Mi-17 came in contact with the first, destroying critical rotor systems on both and making them drop like stones from sky into a field near Sarmat firing range.

Mangled remains of the choppers.

No accident in the last 20 years has disturbed IAF's peace like this one-not just because it is the first ever mid-air collision in IAF, but also because highly proficient crew was involved. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne was preoccupied the following morning as he took over as chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. An hour after the ceremony, he was on a plane to Jamnagar.

While a formal court of inquiry pieces together what may have led to the crash, there appears to have been violation of the most basic flight safety rules, despite the crew in both the choppers logging several hundred hours of rotorcraft flight.

Basic flight safety rules were violated, despite experienced crew in both the helicopters.

The inherent dangers of flying helicopters demand that if two or more ever have to fly in formation, they do so in two basic ways. A tactical formation involves two helicopters, separated by approximately 65 metres. A close formation would see the two choppers separated by a safety margin of about 22 metres. Also, in both types of formations, the second helicopter is required to be "stepped up", or fly at a slightly higher altitude than the chopper in front. The two ill-fated Mi-17s clearly violated minimum separation rules. "The second chopper may have been trying to catch up with the leader to be able to fly in formation. The fact that it hit the leader's tail rotor also suggests it wasn't stepped up," says Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Fali H. Major, so far the only helicopter pilot to make it to IAF's top office.

Air Marshal (Retd) Padamjit Singh Ahluwalia, author of perhaps IAF's most exhaustive documented assessment of military flight safety, suggests that the collision may have occurred while the lead chopper was on a 'gathering turn', a manoeuvre executed to allow the second chopper to catch up.

IAF is now emphasising that the Mi-17 is not an unsafe machine-over 300 are deployed with flying units across the country. While IAF's helicopter training assets are currently adequate, its fixed wing aircraft training is in a markedly more troubled state. With the HPT-32 Deepak basic propeller trainers grounded for the last three years, pilot cadets intending to fly fighter jets are now pushed straight into intermediate training and advanced jet training.

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